


Demonic Affections

by MintIceTea



Category: Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro
Genre: Demon Boyfriend, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-22 21:44:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2522846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintIceTea/pseuds/MintIceTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The whole thing started when Neuro said “I’ve got something to show you!” Or maybe even before that. It's hard to remember when she's sure she's got brain damage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nesting

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Simple Misunderstanding](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2457719) by [MintIceTea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintIceTea/pseuds/MintIceTea). 



> Based of a beautiful little plot bunny I saw ages ago on the Neuyako tag on Tumblr. I have lost the link to it, but it pretty much went: Neuro attempts to seduce Yako using bird-like courtship.

The whole thing came as a surprise really. Yako later compared it to being struck by a meteor the way it practically fell out of the sky.

  
The ceiling actually.

  
And if she was being completely honest she had about two seconds of warning before hand when her demon partner reached up to grab the not-quite-so-nondescript rope hanging from the tiles above. But two seconds didn’t give her enough time to move before he yanked on the rope, opening a trap door and letting a ladder smack her painfully in the occipital. Neuro watched her with a smug grin as she blinked the tears away.

  
“I made a home for you, Vermin!” He exclaimed proudly when her frown was directed towards him once more. Her eyes traveled warily up the ladder to the darkness above. Skittering and wailing made her squint suspiciously.

  
“Thanks Neuro, but I’m fine. I’ve got my own apartment, remember?”

  
“Oh I do remember, but I wanted to make sure you have another room in case something…happens…to your place of residence.” His smile was so sweet Yako felt nauseous

  
“Please,” she sighed in resignation, “if you’re going to destroy my place at least let me grab my menu collection first.”

“It’s up there!” Neuro pointed his middle finger up towards the darkness.

  
Yako took a deep breath; counted to twenty, then cautiously put her foot on the lowest rung of the ladder. “Neuro, I had a coupon for Coco-Ichi in there that expires tomorrow. I’m going to go get it, and you will drag my half-dead and mauled corpse to their nearest location so I can have my final meal, okay?”

  
“So dramatic,” Neuro tsked.

 

“Promise me!”

  
With a heavy sigh and gratuitous eye rolling he promised she’d have her last bowl of curry even if he had to carry her there. He had been infuriatingly self-satisfied since her faux-pas last week and Yako hadn’t been able to deduce why. And if this flirtation with death would give her some kind of explanation it’d be worth it.

  
Or at least she hoped.

 

She climbed slowly, trying to resist the force of his claws on her bum, pushing her upwards. “Geez, Neuro! I’m moving, let go of me!”

  
“Nope!” She couldn’t see him, but she knew that was the voice that went with his ‘innocent’ smile. “Sensei has to see what I’ve done! Then we can go out for the drink you promised me!”

  
“We already had drinks last week!” She stopped just short of her head clearing the hole in the ceiling to peer down at him.

  
He pursed his lips in what may have been a pout. “That doesn’t count, Ringworm, you brought your boyfriend.” His face suddenly brightened, “but this time he won’t be bothering us!”

  
“Neuro,” Yako’s voice began to rise in panic, “what did you do to Higuchi---eeek!” With a shove Neuro sent her sprawling into the attic space she didn’t know they had. When she cautiously opened her eyes she was pleased to see no toxic goo, or rotting corpses, not even a collection of eyeball-bugs.

  
What she found instead was what could only be described as a nest. But big enough for a person (Yako refused to acknowledge it was big enough for two). The outer ring of the nest was made from huge black vines with long thorns that could easily rip her to shreds. The inner ring of the nest though, was full of blankets and pillows, and alarmingly Yako recognized all of her own bedding as well as a few of the spare blankets from her mom’s place. Even her childhood teddy bear was sitting proudly in the center of the nest, though Yako wasn’t sure what she thought about the stuffed horns that had been lovingly sewed to his head.

  
“Neuro?” She turned to see him peering at her from the hole. “What the hell is this?”

  
“I thought you had enough brain cells left to figure it out. I made you a nest. It’s much better than that lousy apartment you had. It was so easy to break into even morons could do it. And it was drafty. And the doorman tried to look up your skirt.” Neuro reported with a slightly malicious grin. Yako’s head swam.

  
“Um,” she glanced between him and the…nest. “You aren’t going to, uh, join me in it, are you?” Yako would remain in denial that her voice squeaked at the end.

  
Neuro blinked at her. Their eyes met and held and surprisingly it wasn’t uncomfortable. After a moment he ducked back out of sight leaving her with the word: “No.”

  
Yako sat back on her heels, gathering her stuffed bear into her arms absently. Finally able to force a shaky air full into her lungs she relaxed. When she was able to look around the room with clear eyes, it actually wasn’t too bad. Not that she really wanted to live right above where she worked. But it was dark and cozy, and to be honest at the end of the day and after dinner all Yako wanted to do was sleep anyway.

  
She’d give it a week or so. If this weird nest-attic-bedroom didn’t work out she’d go out apartment hunting. Yako turned to go back down the ladder only to be stopped when Neuro once again popped his head up through the hole. “Did I say ‘no’? Slip of the tongue. What I meant was ‘not yet’.” He grinned at her suddenly pale face.

  
She swallowed and closed her eyes. Never mind. She’d start looking at apartments today.


	2. Preening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “W-why are you styling my hair? And what are you putting in it?”
> 
> “Because it looked like something a hell-beast vomited after a ten-day feeding frenzy. And I’m using mousse, but I can use this disembodied hand I found as a clip if you’d prefer it up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts for this chapter come from BubbleBtch & BoPeepWithNoSheep. Thank you!  
> Neuro preening Yako & Neuro’s plumage brightening.The latter got moved to the next chapter, but will be a continuing thing. Sorry about that!

                After five days of searching, Yako had managed to find an apartment. A bit closer to the office than she would like, but every time she looked further Neuro would sabotage the process somehow. The one place she did manage to get was even smaller than the office’s attic space. But it was hers and it was separate and…

                Yako stared from where she stood in the doorway. It was back.

                The nest that is. The nest that Neuro had built. He had apparently moved it from the office to take over her new apartment.

                Well shit.

                _Think positive._ She knew that the nest, from the few night she slept in it (alone! Thank you very much!), was extremely comfortable. And it wasn’t like she expected to have a place that was demon-proof anyway. (Probably the only place in the universe Neuro couldn’t get into would be beyond the Pearly Gates.) So if all he had done so far was to provide her with a place to rest then she’d be thankful.

                Now to cross her fingers and hope that was all that he had done.

                With a sigh she hug her bag on one of the protruding thorns, and slipped off her jacket to hang it on another. She had met up with some of her old school friends for dinner; so she absently went through her evening routine before falling into the nest to sleep.

                Tomorrow. Tomorrow she’d talk to Neuro about the nest situation.

                Hopefully.

\--

                The next morning Yako awoke to fingers combing through her hair, and for a brief, disorientating moment she thought it was her mother waking her up for school. But the illusion ended when there was a sharp _yank!_ against her scalp.

                She sat up and almost based foreheads with Neuro.

                “Morning, Louse!” he grinned, reaching out again to smooth down her hair.

                “What are you doing?” She scooted backwards, yelping when her shoulder hit one of the spikes in her nest.

                “We’ve got a case!” Neuro announced, sitting across the nest from her. He was dressed in his usual suit, but the jacket and shoes seemed to be missing. Yako tried not to focus on how…casual he looked, almost… approachable.

                Well. Tried being the keyword.

                And maybe it was just part of his demonic scheming. Because she let her guard down the tiniest bit and pushed his odd wake-up call to the back of her mind.

                “Why didn’t you just call me then?” Yako asked, yawning and stretching now that the adrenaline was dissipating. Neuro’s gaze dropped down as she stretched before he turned an innocent look back up.

                “Because this case requires a certain dress code.” He gestured to the garment bag hanging by her front door. “Didn’t you say we’re partners now? I’m assisting you in preparing.”

                “Okay…” Yako hummed, staring at him suspiciously. “In what ways are you assisting me?”

                Neuro hummed back mimicking her and she rolled her eyes. He watched her climb out of the nest with no further commentary and Yako retreated into the bathroom with the mysterious outfit to prepare for her day.

                He better be “assisting” by making sure she has a proper breakfast before work.

\--

                When Yako emerged she was pleasantly surprised to find that Neuro had not destroyed her apartment but had apparently brought her a fast-food breakfast. She eyed the two bulging paper bags on the table with longing. She knew Neuro well enough that there was only a 50/50 chance that there was actually eatable food in the bag.

                “Breakfast to go?” She questioned. Neuro was standing at her dressing, investigating her meager collection of beauty supplies.

                “Sit down and eat, you heathen,” he replied with a smirk. “Our ride will find traffic rather…troublesome today.”

                “What did you do to Godai’s car?”

                A tube of mascara hitting her forehead served as a reminder not to question Neuro and Godai’s relationship. At least not when transportation was involved.

                Suddenly determined to enjoy her junk food breakfast Yako sat down at her tiny table and began to eat.

                She had only gotten about halfway through when she felt Neuro standing behind her. She made to turn to face him but a clawed grip on her scalp stopped her. “Stay still.”

                She gulped down her mouthful of food. “I’m not finished though!”

                “By all means keep stuffing your face, but keep the rest of your head still or I will disconnect the two.” Neuro commanded, sounding rather cheerful. His lightened his painful grip and, **_very_** disconcertingly, began to comb his fingers through her hair.

                “What are you doing?”

                She could _hear_ his grin. “Styling.”

                “W-why are you styling my hair?” She yelped as something cold and damp touched her scalp. “And what are you putting in it?”

                “Because it looked like something a hell-beast vomited after a ten-day feeding frenzy. And I’m using mousse, but I can use this disembodied hand I found as a clip if you’d prefer it up.” He sounded so casual about it that Yako shuddered. It felt _nice_ having him touch her hair.

                She fully acknowledged that it would probably end up horrendous by the end, but except for the occasional scratches of his claws it was nearly enjoyable.

                Nearly.

                “You’re being nice.” Yako muttered. For as odd as his behavior was she had worked with him long enough to realize the meaning underneath. The suit jacket and skirt he brought her was something out of her own closet, something she had learned not to mention after the first few times he had brought her a “uniform”.

                “What? But Sensei!” Neuro intoned, using his simpering kiss-ass voice. “Can I not prove my eternal devotion by assisting you in your preparation for our day of mystery solving?”

                “No.”

                “Then how shall I prove the level of my…affection, sensei?” He had dropped the playful, facetious tone, and the deep purr he adopted made her shiver.

                “I don’t know!” Finished with her meal she squirmed out from his touch. She stood and turned to face him, he was smiling at her, and it wasn’t his facetious ‘innocent’ smile either. The strand of hair accidentally sheered by him tossing scissors at her hadn’t stayed in place, falling across her face when she turned. He reached out to tuck it back behind her ear.

                She felt frozen in place by his gaze on her. He only smirked and stroked her hair one last time before turning suddenly and heading towards the door.

                “Let’s go. I’m salivating for this mystery.”

                Yako tried to convince herself that the reason her heart was pounding was because he _must_ have something planned.

                Tried being the keyword.

               


	3. Courting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Neuro is not quite a traditionalist, Yako is discovering things about herself, and Godai is worried about his honor.

Neuro had always been an odd one back in hell. It was quite a scandal about the courts, his immense hunger for mysteries; his absolute obsession with them.

Not that Neuro had ever cared what the other demons thought. His ranking and power put him head and shoulders above them anyway. Scum.

But despite his loathing for the ghoulish and proper ways of hell – there’s a specific _way_ you’re expected to wreak havoc amongst humans, you know, what a waste of time - there was one tradition he's determined to follow by the books.

The matter of courtship.

Unfortunately, bubbling pits full of boiling tar and the screaming of the damned were out of reach.

So he settled for the next best thing.

“Is there a mystery here? Or is the only mystery why you taking me out for ice cream? Because if that’s the case it’s gonna have to remain unsolved, because I don’t wanna know.” Yako said as she watched the girl behind the counter add a fifth scoop to her cone.

Neuro snorted. In his compromise of courtship customs he had ordered a small cone of death-by-chocolate. It was the most tolerable of human flavors. And though it was a waste of energy to consume the damned thing, it was… enjoyable to watch Yako savor hers.

Humans were interesting creatures. Their crimes so varied with motive, and their mating habits so unpredictable. He was moving fast by demon standards, but then they had all eternity to waste, but by human opinions he was probably being a bit obtuse.

Ah, that was how he liked it though. He liked them to think him dull and slow. Especially Yako, she had known him long enough to realize it was all a façade and it made her so delightfully uneasy.

Her begrudging reaction to his styling of her hair was utterly wonderful. He would have to keep that in mind, she didn’t mind after her original discomfort. And though she complained quietly and often, she never made any attempt to replace the nest he had lovingly crafted for her. (The weekend he disappeared to Aokigahara to gather branches was absolutely worth it).

“You’re staring, vermin.” He murmured, giving her a sly, slow smile. Which evolved into a full blown grin when she blushed scarlet. “Finally surrendering to my dashing good looks?”

“I-I…” She took another huge bite of her ice cream, refusing to look at him.

“You what?” He chucked the remains of his cone over his shoulder, leaving forward across the table, fingers laced.

“I don’t know what you’re up to,” she admitted with a squinting glare.

He grinned. “Of course you don’t, you’re simple minded, still.”

“Hey that’s---wait, is this a date? Another one?” Yako’s offended face faded in her long-coming realization.

“Bravo, that’s the master detective!” He stood and smirked down at her. “And told you, the other one didn’t count. This is our first date, sen-sei.” He sang the last bit, mockingly.

“F-first date?” She gulped.

“Oh yes, sensei!” He gave her a smile and blush of pure innocence, before tugging her up to stand before her. “And as such I will decline your brutish advances, and offer a decorous kiss in trade.”

“Brutish? Neuro –” He cut her off by bending down and pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. A proper compromise for this strange courtship and their quite public location. He licked his lips as he straightened, tasting the nightmarish flavor combination of her treat.

She blinked at him looking perplexed, licking her own lips and he grinned.

“I understand that I should accompany you home in your customs,” he began softly. “According to my customs I should hurl you into the tar pits and leave. If you made it out alive we would move forward.” He looked around disdainfully.

“No tar.” Yako offered, looking a bit relieved.

“I’m not walking you home,” Neuro announced, before settling for another compromise. Tripping her and vanishing before she picked herself up.

All in all, he thought that it went rather well.

\------

Yako hated to admit it, but she had been constantly reliving the previous afternoon. A date! It put all his weird behaviors into perspective, well, in a sense. She was no less concerned, but at least he seemed to be considering her human nature.

Thank god there were no tar pits nearby.

She was in such a state that even Godai questioned it while he was over with more papers for Neuro. She waved him off at the time, but once Neuro had gone off on a hunch she ventured to ask about the demon himself.

“Hey, Godai… do you think that Neuro looks more….” Yako struggled for a word for a moment, chewing thoughtfully. “Handsome lately?”

Godai shuddered and pulled out his switch blade, holding it to his stomach. “If you say one more word I fucking swear I will kill myself and die with honor knowing that I never spoke one fucking word about that demon’s appearance.”

Yako needed more girlfriends.

“Well, maybe not handsome then.” She backtracked. “More like, I mean, doesn’t his hair seem brighter? And not just after he’s eaten.”

“I’m not gonna fucking answer! And it’s weird that you’re noticing that.”

“He took me on a date yesterday—“

“I’ll do it! I’ll kill myself right now!”

“Oh never mind.”

Yako would have to find someone else to discuss her dating life with.

Oh god. Her dating life. Her _romantic_ life.

She was dating her demonic employer.

Oh shit.


	4. Gifting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yako feels like she’s looking for clues in all the wrong places. 
> 
> But the answer to this mystery might be more obvious than she thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t have much of a plot for this story, was relying on prompts - I’ve used up the ones I’ve gotten (THANK YOU SO MUCH), so it’s time for me to wrap this series up. This is going to be the end, there will not be any more, because while I still have a soft spot for MTNN, I can’t promise I’ll write for this fandom again. I love Neuyako, but they are harder for me to write. (Had to binge MTNN & Assassination Classroom to get the oomph to finish this. lol)  
> So thank you everyone for sticking with this short and stupid little thing for years (holyshit?!?!?!?!?!), and thank you so much to all the lovely people who left comments - this got finished because of you! *kisses*  
> If there’s enough interest I will rewrite the first three chapters and the prequel. But I will not be adding more to this series.

“Here.”

 

Yako extends her hand, wincing out of habit as she allows Neuro to drop whatever it was he wants to share into her palm.

 

To her surprise it isn’t anything wriggling or gross. (Or bleeding, or screaming, or pulsing…) It is small and cool, smooth against her skin. She carefully cracks an eye open, peering at it.

 

“Oh.” It was a small round stone. About the size of a peanut, teardrop shaped, with blues and purples running through it. “It’s pretty.”

 

Neuro makes a sound of disinterest, barely pausing in the directions he was dictating to Akane. Yako continues to admire the stone, listening with half and ear as he speaks, waiting for him to mention how the stone was relevant to the case. But...

He doesn’t? 

 

They solve the entire case, have their end-of-case meals and everything, and the stone had no relevance whatsoever. Yako sets it in a jar in her apartment, screwing on the lid tight, just in case it does end up being one of Neuro’s tricks.

 

But it isn’t one of those either.

 

Two months later Yako is shrugging on her jacket when she finds another one. It tumbles out of the hole in her pocket that she has been meaning to sew up for months. With sharp little sounds it bounces on the tile of the office. Yako blinks down at it, recognizing the milky green coloring, a jade – a hole in the top, like it is supposed to belong in a necklace but is missing the chain. She glances back at Neuro. He was reclined in his chair - watching over the street with half-lidded eyes, shoulders by his ears. His version of dozing off. 

 

(Very unpleasant to wake him from, wouldn’t recommend.) 

 

So she tucks the stone in her other pocket and heads home for the evening. 

 

(It’s added to the jar with the other one just in case.)

 

\--

 

“Lunch.” Neuro announces, upending a paper sack full of food onto the desk in front of Yako. While not exactly the most courteous, it isn’t crawling with bugs or covered in slime and Yako is overjoyed to see that the food is still warm. 

 

He’s been a lot nicer since they’ve started “courting” - even nicer than when he declared them partners. (Oh, he still harasses her on a daily basis, says it keeps her on her toes, but Yako feels he gets off on her reactions.)

 

“Thank you.” She says, pausing before she digs in to look up at him. He’s got a pleased, smile on his face - so different from his usual vacant idiot smile that her heart flutters.

 

(She wants to retract that feeling two seconds later when she bites into her meal and encounters another “present”.)

 

She spits it out into her hand, ignoring Neuro’s cackling. Another stone, a deep blue that reflected the light from the windows. 

 

“What is up with all the stones?” 

 

Neuro blinks at her (ah, there’s that infuriating idiotic grin). “A mystery. If only there was a world famous detective who could solve it.” 

 

\--

 

That evening, she curls up in her Neuro-made nest, and opens her book on gemstones. She lines the gifted stones out in front of her. The first one he had gifted her - fluorite, she thinks it is - apparently has the meaning of concentration. 

 

Okay, fine, she’s concentrating.

 

The jade means prosperity - so, uh, concentrate on prosperity? What is that supposed to mean? They have been doing decently on cases. Yes, they haven’t had as many international lately, but still - they were being requested all over Japan. 

 

She moves to the last stone. Um, okay, there’s a lot of blue stones. The one that looks - Yako squints hard between the gem in her hand and the picture in the book - okay, so the one that looks the closest - one of the possible meanings is for-

 

Relieving frustration. 

 

Well it isn’t working. She lets out a small shriek of annoyance as she falls backwards onto her pillows. Barely missing one of the spikes in the nest. She really does need to file down the points, she thinks absently, before tossing the book aside. The stones are dropped back in their jar, but she doesn’t bother getting out of bed to place them back on her dresser; she falls asleep with the jar cradled against her chest. 

 

(She’s sound asleep so she misses Neuro when he comes  by in the wee hours of the morning, long before dawn. He’s about to wake her, but stops and decides against it.)

 

(Though he does return a few hours later at a more reasonable time to hurl her out of bed and into the day.) 

 

\--

 

Yako drops her head down onto her desk, groaning. Going from no international jobs, to three back to back in different time zones… yeah, she is pretty much dead. Just have the horrible,  _ horrible _ , paperwork to finish so she can get paid. (Neuro may be content to be paid in the mysteries themselves, but unfortunately Yako’s food actually needs money to purchase.) But as long as she keeps her eyes closed she can happily pretend that the work is done. 

 

Or that it at least isn’t sitting right in front of her.

 

She hears Neuro approach, and already resigns herself to whatever mischief he has in mind. She is just  _ too tired damn it _ . So it comes as a surprise when she feels a gentle hand on her head, stroking her hair back. Opening her eyes, she peers up at him, watching in surprise as he takes the paperwork from her desk, and replaces it with a small bag. Yako opens her mouth to say something, she’s not sure what, but stops at the warning look in his eyes. 

 

(The unspoken rule: do not acknowledge Neuro’s kindness.)

 

Instead she lets him take the paperwork - she’ll have to double check it anyway - and turns to investigate the small silk bag on her desk. It’s light, and it feels like there is something like marbles inside when she picks it up. Carefully, she empties it out onto her desk.

 

“Oh.” 

 

It’s a collection of little blown-glass candies. All in different colors, so delicate, Yako is almost afraid she’s going to break them if she holds them too long. She blinks hard, her eyes watering, because these are the same little candies that she admired during the layover in Italy. The ones he had mocked her for. (“Even your nightmarish appetite should have the limit of eating  _ glass _ , louse.”)

 

But he got them for her anyway. 

 

Looking over at him, he’s focused on the paperwork - almost but not quite looking so absorbed as to be be completely ignoring her. He continues to have his eyes on the paperwork, scribbling away until she is standing right next to him. He looks up at her, his smile a bit too arrogant to be soft. “You like them, then?”

 

“Yeah, I do. You sneaky bastard.” Usually that comment would get Yako exposure to one of his devilish tools, but she counters it by leaning down and pressing a kiss to his brow.

 

His eyes are thoughtful as she rises back up. “You missed,” he comments dryly.

 

“Did I?”

 

“Mm.” He reaches up and pulls her down into a proper kiss. He’s gentle, his lips moving against hers, as he strokes a hand through her hair. With the other hand he gently tugs her forward by her waist, as if he wants to pull her down onto his lap.

 

Yako moves slowly but eagerly, it’s this side of Neuro that excites her the most. It’s new, and unfamiliar, and it makes her heart race. But it’s Neuro and despite all his tricks and mischief she trusts him, feels safe with him and --

 

She suddenly finds herself sprawled on the floor, holding her poor (hopefully not broken) nose as Godai enters the office. He glances between them, Yako on the floor, Neuro serene at the desk.

 

“Y’know, fuck it, I don’t wanna know.”

 

\--

 

Neuro has been eyeing something across the street for the past couple of minutes. Him being here in general is him being obliging by joining her for  _ her _ after-case meal. In odds to her mountain of plates, he had a single cup of tea before him. (One, Yako is pretty sure, that he dropped a bit of  _ something _ into from a rather shifty looking vial). 

 

If he offers to share she’s going to decline. 

 

Yako announces she’s finished with a happy sigh, leaning back. Neuro stands up, mentioning that he’d return momententarily with a casual wave of his hand. 

 

She watches him walk into a store across the street, and her faces scrunches into a puzzled frown. As far as she can tell it is some kind of antique or resale store. She sits up straight, realizing suddenly that this could be one of his stops where he buys the trinkets trinkets at! (The last one he got her, was an antique miniature frame, the silver polished to gleaming; with a picture of some kind of food monstrocity that made her mouth water.)

 

(“Wisconsin Bloody Mary” Neuro had announced smugly when she questioned.) 

 

She’s about to get up and follow him, when the waitress approaches with her bill. 

 

And Yako realizes that Neuro had taken her wallet.

 

\--

 

She eventually meets him back at the office - she had to use the emergency card she kept in her shoe, just for these kind of situations. 

 

(He does point out that since he was key in earning that money he is allowed to spend it, but does it have to be on Yako’s personal account?)

 

When she makes it back to the office there is a box sitting on her desk. Her wallet on top and Neuro is just as smug as usual. 

 

“Okay, while I don’t mind paying - ditching your date is no way to treat a lady.” She scolds halfheartedly, flopping into her seat.

 

He blinks at her. “I’ve always treated you like a splendid lady.” (How he manages to say that with a straight face is beyond her.) 

 

Yako sends a look to Akane, who makes a movement as close to shaking her head as she can. 

 

“Is this what you abandoned me for?” Yako prods the box carefully - it’s a bit larger than a shoebox, it doesn’t make noise, or attack at the provocation. She lifts the lid. 

 

Carefully packed inside is a slightly smaller glass box. The corners are outlined in silver, with very faint white patterns dancing across the glass, making the whole thing sparkle under the dreary office lights. 

 

“It’s so pretty.” Yako lifts it up so Akane can see it. “What is is for?” 

 

“If I have to tell you, I’m going to have to demote you back down to a maggot.” Neuro said, with an almost believable sigh of regret. 

 

Yako looks at him thoughtfully. She traces her fingertips over the delicate patterns. “I am going to keep all my little gifts from you in here.” She finally says, watching him from the corner of her vision. “The gems, and beads, and glass candies.” A pause. “And bottlecaps.” 

 

(She isn’t sure if those actually count as gifts. He usually hands them to her when she’s hungry and tells her to call them a snack.)

 

He smiles, and his face brightens up with a gentle sort of pride. 

 

Yako knows then, that she guessed it right. 

 

\--

 

The box collects many more little gifts over the next couples of months. Yako doesn’t wear much jewelry, but slowly, beaded bracelets and earrings are added. (Yako suspects that Neuro knows she won’t wear them. Since about every other one vears too close to actual torture methods - chokers that tighten with each breath; spiked earrings that dig into her shoulders if she slouches.) 

 

Sometimes they’re gifted during their dates. Other times they’re “just because”. 

 

The fact that he’s thinking about her (wether mockingly or not) with each gift slowly begins to make Yako think that he’s serious about this... _ courtship _ . (That term still sounded safer, and more sane than  _ dating _ .) 

 

It’s only a few weeks after Yako is fully comfortable in their new dynamic that he strikes. 

\--

 

Yako fights the temptation to cackle, and she can tell Akane feels the same; the way she’s waving around wildly. She feels very proud of herself. Neuro has dismissed all of her previous Christmas gifts to him. (It wasn’t the kind of holiday demons celebrated, he had pointed out, and in any case it was a  _ western _ holiday so why was she so intent on celebrating it?) But it feels weird not getting him something. Especially now since they are  _ courting _ . 

 

But no matter what she had gotten him he wasn’t impressed. (Always appreciated the wrapping though. At least she held onto that good idea.) 

 

But this year. This year she’s done it. 

 

Akane had helped her find a good deal on tickets to India. It was one of the few places they hadn’t traveled, and according to Yako’s contacts there was something shifting within a few pharmaceutical companies. There’s a very high chance that he’ll be able to sniff out a mystery while they’re there. (And curry, Yako can’t help but mentally add, actual Indian curry. It’ll be wonderful). 

 

Even the wrapping paper coincides, Yako doesn’t doubt he’ll be able to read the language. (And why was it so hard to track down a Mumbai newspaper?) She’s smug as she enters the office, promptly ducking as she narrowly misses Neuro’s feet hanging from the ceiling. 

 

“Merry Christmas, Neuro.” She smiles up him, and he responds with a smile of his own. Before dropping to the ground beside her, his elbow neatly hitting her head and sending her sprawling on the floor.

 

“Ah, the yearly sacrifice of your earnings to please your master.” He walks over to his desk, sitting down and lacing his fingers. “Will you succeed this year?” 

 

She rolled her eyes, pushing herself up and dusting off. “I doubt it, you’re impossible to please.” 

 

Yako places the tickets on the desk before him, and he looks rather pleased at the wrapping already.

 

“Well, it looks like you finally put some of your brain cells to use.” He says, lifting the small thin box and turning it over, carefully pulling off the paper in order to read later. “I say you might’ve even earned this.”

 

Yako bites back a response she would regret (you don’t  _ earn _ Christmas gifts, idiot) as he leans over and pulls one of Troy’s drawers open. She flinches automatically, but he merely pulls a small white box from the drawer - placing it on the desk between them. He smiles up at her expectantly. 

 

“Is...is that a box from Bella’s?” She lifts it up to confirm that yes, it is, and being from Bella’s there is probably -  _ maybe _ \- a cupcake inside. Her mouth waters despite knowing that this is probably a trick. 

 

“Don’t just stand there trembling, louse.” Neuro says in a tone of mild disgust. “It’s unseemly. Open it.” 

She does - prepared for some kind of jack-in-the-box type attack.

 

But there isn’t one.

 

Inside is the impossible - a gorgeous cupcake. Frosting shaped like a Christmas tree, little candy dots of red and white down the side. Yako raises her eyes to Neuro’s, he gives her a small smile.

 

“Merry Christmas, louse.” 

 

“Thank you.” Her voice is absolutely  _ not  _ wavering. “Merry Christmas, Neuro.”

 

(He mercifully doesn’t mention it if it does.)

 

She wants to admire it longer, but she isn’t able to resist - it’s so pretty, but  _ it smells so good _ . She doesn’t even return to her desk to sit down and eat it, instead remains standing before him. Enjoying her sugary treat, as he reads the newspaper wrapping - absently fanning himself with the tickets. 

 

“These look promising,” he murmurs. “Good job, maggot, I… oh.” He trails off when he looks up at her. 

 

“What?”  

 

“I overestimated you, louse.” He sighs, setting down his present on the desk and leaning on one of his hands. “I thought you would notice the addition I had added.” 

 

His disappointment makes her pause. She mentally reviews the cupcake, and there was nothing unusual about it that she can recall. “What addition?” 

 

He spins in his chair turning away so she can’t see his face. She can barely make out his words, he mutters them nearly to himself alone. “I had them place a ring as a decoration on it.”

 

“A ring? But, why?” She’s tempted to walk around to see him, but she feels frozen to the spot.

 

“Don’t humans consider that a romantic way to propose?” He sighs again. “I should’ve considered that my fiance is a bottomless devourer of trash.”  

 

“W-what?” Yako leans on the desk to keep her from collapsing onto the floor. “A ring. A proposing ring - I mean, an  _ engagement _ ring? Like marriage engagement?” 

 

“Yes.”

 

She slides to the floor, one hand still on his desk. Her mind is whirling, her gaze blurry. A ring. He got her a ring and he was proposing and it  _ was _ romantic. He fucking got her a ring and she  _ ate _ it. He was proposing and she was so blinded by frosting that she missed the ring and  _ ate _ it without realizing. She’s an idiot, a gluttonous -- 

 

Something moves in her vision.

 

She blinks. Neuro is standing in front of her. She looks up his legs at him. Standing above her, the most wicked grin on his face. Nearly touching her nose, balancing on the tip of his middle finger is a diamond ring. 

 

“What?” 

 

“Fool.” He says, almost affectionately looking down at her. And then, Yako realizes this was his plan all along. To have  _ her _ on her knees as he proposes. “Well?”

 

The bastard.

 

She smiles slightly. 

 

Yako knows marrying him is going to be a new kind of suffering. But it’s one she finds she looks forward to. He loves her, or at least cares for her, in his painful demon way. And she, well, she loves him too. 

 

She’s not going to make it easy for him though. 

 

“Yes. On one condition though.”

 

He makes a pleased questioning sound. The fact that he hasn’t smacked her for the impudence of making a stipulation, makes her certain that he isn’t toying with her. 

 

“Godai has to be your best man.”

 

\--

In a bar, somewhere across town:

 

Godai shudders violently. His friends raises an eyebrow over her beer.

 

“I think someone just walked over my fucking grave.”

 

\--

 

(To Godai’s eternal relief: Neuro finds the unintended loophole to Yako’s request. You don’t need a best man if you don’t have a wedding. And there isn’t a wedding if your fiance is tricked into signing the marriage papers.)


	5. Mating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What comes after all the mating rituals is the actual mating, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Psych!

It’s been four months since Godai has seen either of the detectives. He’s gotten an email or two requesting information, and the occasional text from Yako about where they were now. But they have been out of the country for a good long while. So Godai doesn’t think too much of it when he’s summoned to the office to catch up with them now that they’re back in Japan. **  
**

He regrets not being more suspicious.

“Oh my god.” Godai moans, pressing the heels of his hands painfully into his eyes. Wishing he could erase what he is seeing, and therefore eliminate the thoughts about how the ordeal came to be. “Please tell me you’re just fat.”

Neuro scoffs disdainfully. “Useless slave, you are below even the lowest of mammals if you can’t recognize a pregnant woman. More than just the extended belly, there are also the tender and enlarged mammary--”

Godai manages to blissfully block out most of Neuro’s overly-fond descriptions (and most of the nearly lewd gestures) by focusing on slightly less traumatizing things. Math, kanji, the fact that he doesn’t have a girlfriend and yet the monster before him....

“I hate you both.” Godai sobs, falling forward to rest his head against the coffee table. “You’re starting a plague on the earth by combining two monsters.”

“So you don’t want to be the godfather?”

“What?” Godai lifts his head in surprise meeting Yako’s eyes. She’s sitting straight with her usual calm and unflappable gaze, though she does smile apologetically for Neuro’s behavior.

“You’ve done so much for us both, and, I mean you know I trust you with my life. And even though he denies it so does Neuro, so I really couldn’t think of anyone else I rather look out for…” she trails off, laying her hand on her stomach. “Plus if you can handle Neuro you can handle anyone, Godai.”

Godai feels himself blushing. “Fuck- I mean,” he fidgets, scratching his cheek, “o-of course. I…” he bows his head, unable to look at them suddenly. “Thank you.” He manages to mutter, acknowledging the honor. “I won’t let you down.”

“You better not or I will make sure you suffer in hell for all eternity.” Neuro grins. “I’ll be there supervising you myself!”

“I don’t fucking doubt it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that this series and The Hatchling are subtly connected. HAHAHA! 
> 
>  
> 
> Dedicated to all my beautiful reviewers. Thank you so much!


End file.
